William Cooper, Aboriginal Elder

photo source sbs media

Good morning Steemians I trust you are well.

Today is quite the historic day as a Melbourne Federal electorate has its name changed from Batman to Cooper in commemoration of Uncle William Cooper.

John Batman who the seat was originally named after was a British colonizer who had set up Melbourne on Aboriginal Land without a treaty.

William Cooper on the other hand led civil rights movements and he is best known for being the first person in the world to protest against the treatment of Jews by Nazi Germany. He has been commemorated with a bronze statue raised in his honor.

William Cooper also went on to establish the Aborogines Advancement League and fight for human rights for all Aboriginal people in Australia.

The renaming of a Federal electorate from a colonizer to a freedom fighter is a wonderful step forward for reconcilation between Australia's first nations peoples and it's government.